msafri.bsky.social

I am so grateful for the thinking of Raul Peck. One early line in film is haunting quote from Orwell:
“my starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice.”

Raoul Peck. I think I snagged the very last seat sold tonight… he is to also speak afterwards.

Trump and Netanyahu agree new US peace plan for Gaza and warn Hamas to accept - live President Trump says Israel would have US backing to

I thought Tony Blair was done damaging (remember his full-throated support for Bush's war in Iraq?) He's back calling this plan "bold and intelligent". Apparently, we have Jared Kushner to thank for setting up the Tony Blair Institute for Social Change -TBI.
better acronym GFOH

YouTube video by Nimesh Patel Indian American History 101 | Nimesh Patel

this comedian summed up two weeks of lectures on race, Indians,and US:
"Bhagat Singh Thind goes to US Supreme Court. Is this Brown guy white? Nope! go back to India. They deported those 3000 Indian people."

McCarthy Blacklists are associated with Hollywood, but they rippled thru other fields including radio, labor organizations, education, religion and the government itself.
What are today's watchlists?
Canary Mission
The Professor Watchlist
...are there others I miss?

Fall canvas Zetrocard! From a Jackson heights shift where I got to talk to folks in Urdu, Spanish, and English

Thank you @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social and Emily Holloway for so skillfully interviewing myself and my 3 coauthors! Nice summary of how we got to this decade long project.

Thank you Emily Holloway- For guiding this conversation!!

Sign up for the big fall mayoral canvas for Zohran this weekend New Yorkers and you can get this card! I’ll be in Jackson heights
volunteer.zohranfornyc.com/canvass-for-...

when the left has ideas about interventions
vs
the fascist ideas about state intervention

"Hedge fund billionaires Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and tech entrepreneur Brian Armstrong of Coinbase all warned about the risk of heavy-handed interference in the city’s economy."

AND YET: "When Zohran Mamdani resoundingly won the Democratic mayoral primary for New York in June, Wall Street and Silicon Valley erupted in outrage at his promises of free buses, rent freezes and city-run groceries..."

"Last Friday, the administration announced it would be taking a 10 per cent stake in chipmaker Intel, using funds initially granted during the Biden administration... Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said this week the administration would consider taking stakes in defence and munitions companies"

"US President Donald Trump has unveiled a series of blunt interventions into the workings of both the financial system and the operations of private companies...
On Monday evening, he announced the firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook

“They uprooted thousands of trees in an area of four square kilometers, which represents up to half of Mughayyir’s olive production,” Jabr continued. “All the families of the village have been affected.”

686 days.

picture of Andrew Cuomo on "Oh hi" dating app. describing his qualities...

NYC has its own dating app (Oh Hi) and they published a manifesto: www.ohhi.dating/manifesto
Their entry for Andrew Cuomo's dating profile: "An overbearing, pestery creep...Doesn't know how to act. Loud. Oblivious. Bad tipper. Doesn't get the joke. Can't take a hint. "Well actually..."

NYPD nabs alleged WNBA sex-toy tosser, lawyer says DA hunting crypto bros behind the craze An Ohio man surrendered after allegedly hitting a 12-year-old girl with a green phallus. His lawyer says prosecutors want him to name names.

Toxic masculinity of crypto-bros:
"According to a report by ESPN, there is a nationwide publicity effort underway to market a new crypto coin that involves throwing green sex toys, often in the shape of a phallus, at WNBA players."

Remember in December 2023? when apologists were busy saying Israel would never target hospitals, doctors, would never violate the ethical minimums during war and siege?

The "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" uses shady labor (every existing Palestinian firm with experience rejected and boycotted) & runs a Killing Field, UN and IDF soldiers say.

This is the apex neoliberal outcome: make a foundation for killing starving people, get state $, repeat.

Supervillainpacs spent $16m on Cuomo (on top of $8 million from Cuomo's campaign)+$6million against Zohran. Mamdani? spent zero on attack ads+ got $371,000 in Superpac $ from WorkingFamilies, and ran using the city matching funds of $8m + LABOR of 40,000 volunteers
Simple eqn:
Labor > $

"Dreaming demands solidarity." Zohran Kwame Mamdani, June 25th, 2025 (in the wee hours).

Zohran's campaign was a marvel- they will write books on it. I learned from canvassers, all of whom were younger than me. There was discipline, organization, intention, warmth. And it made me speak to my neighbors in a never-before way.

I think he is believing he can resume that very same path. That’s what will obsess him. He’s not going to stay up at night wondering whether the average New Yorker is doing okay. He’s going to stay up at night trying to figure out how to be president." Facts from Bill de Blasio.

He does not have empathy for everyday people.He never has. It’s not part of his makeup and he doesn’t understand day-to-day life in the city & it will just be a political exercise as he tries to work for the next office, which I believe his eyes are set on the presidency.They certainly were in 2020.

Cuomo "did things that mattered a lot to elites, like the airports, and to the wealthy backers.... expect more of the same if he becomes mayor. I think we’ll get a lot of posturing. We’ll get a lot of policies that ultimately help the rich and powerful. "

Bill De Blasio: "My view is people are hurting and affordability is the issue and the Times just does not understand what everyday people are going through. They’ve disconnected from New York City more and more with every passing year... It was unbelievably ageist and out of touch."

perfect commentary.

Either Bill Joyce is single, or his wife hates him and gave him that shirt.

One day I invited a prominent anti-discrimination attorney for a lecture.
One student Q: how has your belief in justice changed?
A: i don't believe in justice in the justice system. You can gain some money for lost wages, but that is not justice.

more need to say that.